Frank Hovington

William Franklin Hovington, b. January 9, 1919 in Reading, PA, d. June 21, 1982 at Milford Memorial Hospital in Milford, DE, buried at Gibbs Memorial Gardens, Woodside, DE. Country blues singer and guitarist, also known as Guitar Frank. He played the guitar and banjo and sang in the Piedmont blues style. He lived in the vicinity of Frederica, Delaware.

Hovington was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. On a tip from the folklorist Peter B. Lowry, he was recorded by Dick Spottswood and Bruce Bastin, with an album released on Flyright Records in the UK (available on CD) and on Rounder Records in the US. Selections were recorded by Axel Küstner and Siggi Christmann for German release, most recently issued by Evidence Records in the US. He disliked travel and did not play away from his Delaware home, afraid that he would lose his welfare support payments, and so did not get the publicity from music festival appearances that his talent deserved.

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By Ron Wynn

A tremendous country blues musician who was singing vividly and playing with flair well after the genre's heyday, Franklin "Frank" Hovington started on ukulele and banjo as a child. He teamed with Willliam Walker in the late '30s and the '40s playing at house parties and dances in Frederica, DE. Hovington moved to Washington, D.C., in the late '40s, and backed such groups as Stewart Dixon's Golden Stars and Ernest Ewin's Jubilee Four. He also worked with Billy Stewart's band. Hovington moved to Delaware in 1967, and was recorded by Flyright in 1975. His 1975 LP was a masterpiece, and alerted many in the blues community to his abilities.